Alex Higgins 1949-2010

It was nice to see some footage of Alex from the 70’s before the drink set in. Here was a nice man, a man without a chip on his shoulder and who was warming to people.

Alex was a victim of circumstance and that is why he turned bitter.

A great documentary and a fitting tribute. Anybody any idea what Hearn meant by ‘it wasn’t as if he was playing Joe Frazer in the 1980 final’?

i guess he meant Joe Frasier has a glass jaw lol

Cliff Thorburn was tough and he couldn't take liberties.

i know in his interview Cliff said Alex did not take liberties however in a montage last night there was a few shots he played that was on the risky side in that match. playing with side for the black instead of a stun for the blue etc.

Yes he definitely went for shots where the white was travelling further to get to the end result than was necessary. I still like Cliff's take on the match though, he made 16 breaks over 50 and Alex made 4.

Lovely documentary with all the right people saying nice things. Might have wanted to hear something from Thorburn and Griffiths perhaps rather than Drago or even Ronnie. Well done Dennis. He did didn't have to say that after the threats made but he rose above it.

the only person i expected a contribution from that was not on really was Ken Doherty and John Virgo.

wildJONESEYE wrote:the only person i expected a contribution from that was not on really was Ken Doherty and John Virgo.

good call ... Ken yes, after all that he'd done for Higgins over the years.

Ken and Patsy Fagan

i think it was a case of cant be there at the time of filming.

but overall the bbc did him proud with the tribute.

Dave H said...

Higgins's 1989 Irish Masters win over Hendry will be released on DVD soon as the first in a series of 'great matches'

great news as a Brit ive only just seen snippets of this match and my coverage was 327 on ceffax.

the last title he ever won came against the lad that became king.

Mr Snooker wrote:Did anyone manage to record the tribute i did record it but something went wrong with my sky box and i was out, I would be veery aprecciated if someone could do me a copy of the tribute on a DVD

yours Hopefully Mr Snooker (Phil)

Mr snooker, its on the BBC iplayer, go the the snooker section on BBCsport and there is a direct link to the video.

Dave Hendon on twitter

The Higgins documentary pulled in 2.72m viewers and gave BBC2 a 12% share, well up on the channel's average

Just watched it on sky + good documentary. Wish theyd have shown a little more footage though, although a great tribute to his life, and having watched snooker only for 3 years I did not know to much about his life, so learnt a lot.

that the point ive watched snooker since 1981 and watched him ever since been a great fan of his and i didnt know him that well Alex Higgins was a complex character and in that documentary i thought i got to know what made him tick better than i ever knew before.

wildJONESEYE wrote:

Dave H said...

Higgins's 1989 Irish Masters win over Hendry will be released on DVD soon as the first in a series of 'great matches'

great news as a Brit ive only just seen snippets of this match and my coverage was 327 on ceffax.

the last title he ever won came against the lad that became king.

ive had the DVD of this match for over a year, a classic especially with the fascintating clash of the veteran versus the young talent.

The crowd were brilliant in this match, obviously 100% behind Alex but there was a poignant moment in the post match interviews when Alex was asked about Stephen and said he wished he could swap places with him and be 20 years younger.

Witz78 wrote:

wildJONESEYE wrote:

Dave H said...

Higgins's 1989 Irish Masters win over Hendry will be released on DVD soon as the first in a series of 'great matches'

great news as a Brit ive only just seen snippets of this match and my coverage was 327 on ceffax.

the last title he ever won came against the lad that became king.

ive had the DVD of this match for over a year, a classic especially with the fascintating clash of the veteran versus the young talent.

The crowd were brilliant in this match, obviously 100% behind Alex but there was a poignant moment in the post match interviews when Alex was asked about Stephen and said he wished he could swap places with him and be 20 years younger.

as an afterthought, ive just realised Hendry is now older than Alex was in that 1989 final. Scary stuff, makes the reality that Hendrys career at the top is numbered all the more realistic

Sonny wrote:Ken and Patsy Fagan

I did not see Eugene Hughes, but I will re-watch it for sure, really Eugene should of featured. I am poised and waiting to write a snot-o-gram to the BBC if in fact Eugene was snubbed.

From Snooker Scene Magazine

On the Friday evening after the 2011 World Championship,World Snooker are to hold an award evening at the Dorchester Hotel,London and institute a Hall of Fame to which Alex Higgins will be the first inductee

wildJONESEYE wrote:From Snooker Scene Magazine

On the Friday evening after the 2011 World Championship,World Snooker are to hold an award evening at the Dorchester Hotel,London and institute a Hall of Fame to which Alex Higgins will be the first inductee

just a pity they hadnt thought of having a Hall of Fame a few years back and the man himself could have been present.

For those who may have missed it:

davehendon The BBC are repeating the Alex Higgins doc at 7pm on BBC2
43 minutes ago via web

You mean he's dead?

Thompson Lykes wrote:You mean he's dead?

Hendon just said on twitter that John Virgo is apparently writing a book on Alex Higgins which will hit the shops in February.

Sonny wrote:Hendon just said on twitter that John Virgo is apparently writing a book on Alex Higgins which will hit the shops in February.

Virgo first in line to make some dosh outta Alex's death. Probably Alex owed him anyway, so its karma.

JV probably knows Alex and Jimmy better than anyone. How good is he at telling stories though?

JV is one clever fellow. he knew he didn't have the ability to stay at the top of snooker so re-marketed himself and deserved to get the Big break gig. He should be great at the story telling. He's a permanent compere and has worked a lot with Jimmy on the 'corporate' side.

It's funny you say that gallant because I remember once a few years ago I referred to him as "a bit thick" and it didn't go down too well

I don't think he's that bright to be honest. But I will reassess when I've read his book.

Sonny wrote:It's funny you say that gallant because I remember once a few years ago I referred to him as "a bit thick" and it didn't go down too well

I don't think he's that bright to be honest. But I will reassess when I've read his book.

I think he is one of those that gives the impression of being "a bit thick" but its a bit of a show. My reservations about any book about Alex is that you are only hearing what they want to tell you. In this case its JVs account. I bet we will hear some pretty horrible revelations - some new some old, and JV is cashing in. I wonder how long it took him before he decided he would write a book...................a day, a week, 2 weeks.

I think JV will give a very favourable account of Alex to be honest. I can't see him using the opportunity to speak ill of the dead. He's probably getting in first before someone else writes a less favourable account.

You could be right about it being a bit of a show. Someone once described him as like "a favourite uncle" and I can certainly see that side to him.

Sonny wrote:I think JV will give a very favourable account of Alex to be honest. I can't see him using the opportunity to speak ill of the dead. He's probably getting in first before someone else writes a less favourable account.

You could be right about it being a bit of a show. Someone once described him as like "a favourite uncle" and I can certainly see that side to him.

I dont think it will be too bad, as he would know that speaking ill of the dead (esp Higgins) would not do him any favours. But dont count out some unpleasant stuff. I mean he was ill for a long time and Jimmy did not see him for was it 6 months, so he still had the nack of getting into arguments right till the end.